After their last outing with "Slang", which
marked something of a departure from the norm, Def Leppard returns with an
album much more in keeping with their NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal)
roots yet which still has a fresh sound to it. "Demolition Man" is a
lively opening song, and you can tell that this would make a great live track.
The song surges forward towards a middle section with a different rhythm from
the rest of the track, which in turn leads into a nice simple guitar solo
before returning to the main tune of the song. "Promises" is classic
Leppard with the arpeggiated chords and harmonies that have been present on
previous albums. It is a much slower track than "Demolition Man",
and so
provides a nice contrast. Again there is a guitar solo which, in keeping with
the rest of the track, has all the trademarks of a distinctive Def Leppard
song. "Back In Your Face" is, as might be expected from the title,
slightly more gritty. A lot of this is due to the drumbeat which would not be
out of place on Queen's "We Will Rock You" if it were slowed down a
touch.

"Goodbye", another slower track, bears a
resemblance to other slow Leppard tracks but manages somehow to remain
individual where it could so easily have become formulaic. There is a
delightful guitar solo at 2:36 which is surprisingly sensitive, perhaps due to
the absence of distortion, but whatever it is, it works well on this piece.
"All Night" starts off sounding very much like a generic 'Prince'
track and returns to this at various points in the song. These 'Prince-like'
verses are interspersed by a more traditional rock chorus. "Paper
Sun" sounds a bit like "I Wanna Be Your Hero" from the
"Retro active" album, but also has a similarity to "Fractured
Love" from the same album. This is not a bad thing as they are both very
good songs. "It's Only Love" is one of the tracks on this album that
sounds the least 'Def Leppard' but this little piece of experimentation has
paid off, and the result has been very successful. Again it is a relatively
slow track and does feature some sections which are more 'Def Leppard' than
others. From this point on there seems to be more experimentation in the
tracks, but without losing the Def Leppard feel. "21st Century Sha La La
La Girl" offers us a slightly bemusing title but is actually a very
catchy number which is not too complicated, but at the same time, does produce a
surprising amount of variation.

"To Be Alive" is very relaxing, and the lyrics
are quite moving. It is a nice song to close your eyes to, although be
prepared for the following track, "Disintegrate" which is an
instrumental track, but is much more 'rock' than some of the previous tracks.
"Guilty" returns to more recognizable ground once again and, as
with "Paper Sun", contains similarities to other Leppard
tracks. The same can be said of "Day After Day", but this song also
brings a noticeable element of darkness to the proceedings, which is actually
quite welcome. The final track on the album is "Kings Of Oblivion",
and this is once again a track which could quite easily have come from the
"Retro active" sessions. Like most of the songs on that album, it is
rather dark and dirty and is a perfect track to end this album on, which has
managed to provide us with a taste of most sides of the Def Leppard archive.
There are also some new visions which show us that there will most probably be
more records on the way from this fivesome. Overall this is an excellent album
for Def Leppard fans, but is also recommended to those who are not.

For reference, full track-listing:

1. Demolition Man

2. Promises

3. Back In Your Face

4. Goodbye

5. All Night

6. Paper Sun

7. It's Only Love

8. 21st Century Sha La La La Girl

9. To Be Alive

10. Disintegrate

11. Guilty

12. Day After Day

13. Kings Of Oblivion

- Bill Vine -

"Friends and Relatives"

The Electric Light Orchestra

Eagle; EDG CD 091

Performance:

Audio:

Here we are, half-way through 1999, and Eagle Records
treats us to a brace of new releases from the original Electric Light
Orchestra (ELO). For the enthusiast, it is always interesting when new material is
uncovered and made available. So a little analysis is in order, and the first
of these two double CDs is a veritable rock family-tree with, of course, the
Electric Light Orchestra at its hub. In many ways it follows the theme I
established in my radio feature "The Jeff Lynne Connection". All of
the acts featured on "Friends And Relatives" have a very direct link
to the ELO including some (live) material which will be new to many listeners.

Back in the early 1970s, a rock/pop group called The Move
decided the take the core of that group (Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, Jeff Lynne) in a
different, more orchestral, direction and so ELO was born. Prior to that
transformation, The Move had achieved great success (in the UK, at least), and
three of their best are included in this album. Amazingly, the sound quality
from those early releases is preserved extremely well. But even before The
Move, there was Carl Wayne & The Diplomats. And after Wood left ELO there
was Wizzard. So the 'spiders-web' of talented musicians who have connections
with the Electric Light Orchestra spreads outwards, even up to the present
day.

The live tracks from ELO are taken from two of Eagle's
earlier releases, based on the 'Wembley' and 'Winterland' concerts. The sound
quality from these has been commented on adversely in the past, so it is no
surprise that it leaves something to be desired on the present album also.
That being said, the material has been selected from the best available of the
two live concerts and will be new to many a fan. Certainly the excitement
of a live performance is captured here. It would seem that Eagle was unable
to get clearance for ELO studio material, but that is easily obtained on CD
albums, so better to include these potentially 'rare' tracks.

To comment on each track from the other acts would be
impractical, so I will mention those which were highlights to me. The two Bev
Bevan tracks are excellent - I wished for more artist information in the
sleeve-notes. Including Mik Kaminski ('Violinski') with his wonderful hit
"Clog Dance" made this available to me for the first time on CD, and
the Tandy Morgan tracks have convinced me that I need to research this duo to obtain more of their output. The Carle Wayne / Choral Union
version of "Miss You Nights" is the best I've ever heard. So it's an
interesting compilation and a fascination theme to follow. There have been
other 'Friends And Relatives' compilations, and I intend to look further into
these. The choice of material on the current album is well made, showing the
performances off to good effect, and revealing new musical threads which are
well worth persuing. My horizons have been expanded wider yet again.

For reference, full track-listing:

Disc One:

1. Intro (Live) - Tony Curtis

2. Rockaria! (Live) - ELO

3. Telephone Line (Live) - ELO

4. Are You Ready To Rock - Wizzard

5. Let There Be Drums - Bev Bevan

6. Fire Brigade - The Move

7. Top Ten Record - Rick Price

8. Custer's Last Stand - Rick Wakeman featuring Roy Wood

9. In Time - Denny Lane

10. Someday - Carl Wayne with Choral Union

11. Clog Dance - Violinski

12. Under The Blue/Asteroid - Tandy Morgan

13. Any Old Time Will Do - Roy Wood

14. Evil Woman (Live) - ELO

15. 10538 Overture/Do Ya (Live) - ELO

Disc Two:

1. Mr Blue Sky (Live) - ELO

2. Livin' Thing (Live) - ELO

3. Flowers In The Rain - The Move

4. Rock 'n' Roll Winter (Loony's Tune) - Wizzard

5. Bitter Sweet - Rick Price

6. Pictures In My Pillow - Tandy Morgan

7. Heavy Head - Bev Bevan

8. Miss You Nights - Carl Wayne with Choral Union

9. Eternal Quest - Denny Laine

10. Ria - Tandy Morgan

11. This Is The Story Of My Love (Baby) - Wizzard

12. Oh What A Shame - Roy Wood

13. Blackberry Way - The Move

14. Roll Over Beethoven (Live) - ELO

- GV -

"Live at the BBC"

Electric Light Orchestra

Eagle; EDG CD 097

Performance:

Audio:

"Live At The BBC" is the second of a pair of
new releases featuring the original Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the other being
"Friends And Relatives". In many ways this is the more interesting
double CD. It covers concerts performed by the band for transmission by the
BBC and includes two quite different periods in ELO's development. From early
in 1973, when they were still an arty, experimental rock/classic fusion
ensemble, we have songs based around the first two ELO albums. Shortly after
this period (in 1974), there are tracks from another concert. The later period
of the Electric Light Orchestra is represented by a summer of 1976 concert
when they were heading towards their most successful rock/pop period and the
all-conquering "Out Of The Blue" album.

The audio on these tracks is, quite simply, superb. The
BBC engineers captured every nuance, and the sound is crystal-clear. The concerts
were performed in front of respectful audiences, and there are nice
introductions from the shows' comperes. Although live shows, the sound is much
more like in a studio, playing to invited fans, so the BBC must have had mic
feeds ahead of the band's own mixing desk. But being live concerts brings us
those variations in the set which are unobtainable from normal studio albums.
It is these moments which produce the magic of "In The Hall Of The
Mountain King" - two versions! The original studio album version of this
track always sounded a little flat, but Jeff and the gang really bring it to
life on "Live At The BBC".

I would have liked more 'showcase' performances from
individual members of the band. Mik Kaminski's "Violin Solo / Orange
Blossom Special" seems to be over before it's begun! And the
sleeve-notes, while adequate, could have usefully catalogued the albums and
respective dates to help plot the progression through the band's various
phases. It's best to ignore the repeated quote of "Oh No Not Susan"
as a typo.

Of all the live material from the original Electric
Light Orchestra which is available on CD, this new album has to be about the
best. They are terrific performances backed by fantastic sound quality. It is to be
hoped that Eagle Records are able to secure the rights to more of this
material, including the middle to late period of ELO's first incarnation. And
judging by the sell-out concerts for the mainly touring band 'ELO Part Two',
there is still enormous interest in this unique combination of rock music with
a classical touch.